The "Do-Nothing" Franchise

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; B&amp;B, you make me laugh. But you are right, fans should be allowed to hope for better than 8-8.
2 days after the draft, the wacky 14-2 predictions are going to get trotted out. I don\'t know how folks like ...

So many people on this board seem to forget that the Saints were a shanked kick and a dropped pass away from 10-6 and the playoffs last year. They seem to forget that half our starting D was injured for the first half of the season. They seem to forget that the Saints are in a great draft position, with 4 picks on the first day.

So why not 14-2?
Before last season there were plenty of Patriots fans chirping:
\"why didn\'t we pick up a reciever, we can\'t have Troy Brown as our number one guy\"
\"we can\'t go into the season with Kevin Faulk our starting running back\"
\"we never should of let Lawyer Milloy go, Rodney Harrison is old and second tier\".

There were plenty of holes on that team, but they went 14-2. They won the super bowl as well, if I remember correctly. And trust me, before the season, there were some Patriots fans chirping away about how they need a whole new coaching staff after missing the playoffs the year before.

I\'ve said it before and I\'ll say it again, the difference between the 8-8 teams and the 14-2 teams in todays NFL is marginal. Now don\'t get me wrong, for the Saints to finish 14-2 would require a whole lotta luck. Three years ago the Bears went 13-3 with a BELOW average talent level. The Saints are definitely more talented than they were.

So to all the pessimists out there, I guess all I can say is go ahead, keep chirping, but you\'ll have to forgive me if I haven\'t thrown in the towel on next season quite yet.

It\'s easy to throw in the towel. It\'s easier to be Negative than it is to be Positive. I don\'t think the nay-sayers have forgotten about the injuries and blown calls, they just don\'t want to acknowledge them. It takes away from their argument.

Choke, you totalitarianist- there\'s no room for you in this free country of ours!

LMAO. I love that guy.

Which guys are you referring to?

You for one. Saintfan and Billy for two more. Other than one other member I was the ONLY person on this board who predicted less than a winning season. The general concensus last offseason was that the defense got better, the O would be tops in the league, our special teams was unstoppable, and all that made for a 10-6 or 11-5 season. You were all wrong. Now, same non-action or wrong moves in the offseason. Same people talking about how the moves are good ones. Same people will be promising playoffs and super bowls.

Go ahead - tell me how NOT signing a starting corner or LB was a GOOD idea this year in FA. Tell me how not being in cap trouble should somehow make me happy that this team is .500 over the last 3 years. Oooh goodie! Sorry guys, I want to win. We can do that, but not with the coaches and front office we\'ve got. Everyone is so excited b/c this is the most talented team we\'ve had maybe ever. WELL THAT HASN\'T TRANSLATED INTO WINS! That should make you mad - pissed - crazed. How is it possible that the 1987 or \'89 Saints could be BETTER than the team we\'ve got now? The answer is easy - coaches. You guys don\'t want to complain about it, don\'t. But don\'t tell me how the horsesh!t they\'re peddling is champaign.

You for one. Saintfan and Billy for two more. Other than one other member I was the ONLY person on this board who predicted less than a winning season. The general concensus last offseason was that the defense got better, the O would be tops in the league, our special teams was unstoppable, and all that made for a 10-6 or 11-5 season. You were all wrong. Now, same non-action or wrong moves in the offseason. Same people talking about how the moves are good ones. Same people will be promising playoffs and super bowls.

Go ahead - tell me how NOT signing a starting corner or LB was a GOOD idea this year in FA. Tell me how not being in cap trouble should somehow make me happy that this team is .500 over the last 3 years. Oooh goodie! Sorry guys, I want to win. We can do that, but not with the coaches and front office we\'ve got. Everyone is so excited b/c this is the most talented team we\'ve had maybe ever. WELL THAT HASN\'T TRANSLATED INTO WINS! That should make you mad - pissed - crazed. How is it possible that the 1987 or \'89 Saints could be BETTER than the team we\'ve got now? The answer is easy - coaches. You guys don\'t want to complain about it, don\'t. But don\'t tell me how the horsesh!t they\'re peddling is champaign. [/quote:0bebdeb63e]
Dude, youÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢re all over the place, flailing like a little San Fran Girly-man in a Bourbon Street bar fight.
But IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢ll be gentleÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã‚Â¦ I know the frustration must be warping your focusÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã‚Â¦

Other than one other member I was the ONLY person on this board who predicted less than a winning season.

Wow, you guessed 1 or 2 games less than we did. IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m awestruck. IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m amazed you could predict our Offense struggling, and our pro-bowl quality special teams absolutely falling apart, and IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m sure you just knew weÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢d lose our best DL, best LB, and best safety in about a 2-game span. IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m sure you knew Joe Horn and company would drop more crucial passes than they ever had in their careers. IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m sure you knew we play 3 or 4 games with ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â½ our defense out with injuries.

The NFL is so unpredictable. ThatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s why every NFL expert qualifies their predictions with ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã…Â“BARRING MAJOR INJURIESÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬? team X should finish 10-6 or 9-9. NEWS FLASH: The Saints sufferd MAJOR injuries. If anyone reviewed the Saints season without their panties cutting off circulation to the brain theyÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢d see why we slipped to 8-8. And it had nothing to do with the CB many screamed for last year. You were wrong. But IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢ve explained this 10,000 times already. If I canÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t convince someone that 2+2=4 after several tries, I give up. Well maybe not.

Non-action? We signed Gandy, Jones, Conwell, Ambrose, Ruff, and Rogers. You can debate if they were the right guys, but canÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t claim non-action.

The answer is easy ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â€Âœ coaches -

IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢m confused, you say this is the most talented team weÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢ve ever had, but you complain we didnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t sign a LB or CB? Then you say the answer is coaching. If coaching is the problem then what difference does it make if we sign an overpriced starting LB or CB?

WhoDat, last year I think every stinking one of us pointed to the weak link being coaching. Even Billy and SaintFan. The kindest thing we said was that maybe they could grow and improve. So donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t give me any crap about confusing horsesh!t with champagne. Its condescending and arrogant.

YouÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢re turning into 08, only with much better grammar and sentence structure..

You\'re going to try to tell me that you, Billy, and Saintfan were down on the coaches BEFORE last season?

You\'re going to tell me that you guys were unhappy with the moves they made or didn\'t make LAST OFFSEASON?

It\'s really easy for you to say this now, but it certainly isn\'t even close to the sunshine being sold on this board this time last year. Do you want to dispute that or should I go look up quotes?

Coaching is the problem (in our case that includes talent evaluation and team direction). Who do you think is responsible for the fact that the D-line has gone from small, agile and attacking, to fat and slow, and back again? This team needed a starting, impact LB last season. They didn\'t get it. They needed one this year. They haven\'t shown interest yet. They needed a stud corner last season. They need one this season. Still nothing. If you think Brian Young solves all of our DL problems, go ahead and think that. That\'s like saying that Ruff solved our problems at LB or Carter at CB. RIGHT.

GO ahead and tell me about injuries. You sound just like everyone using conditioning and youth as an excuse in \'02. Or team chemistry in \'01. What\'s your excuse going to be this year? You act as if there\'s nothing to even be concerned about. OK, so when they end up 8-8 and out of the playoffs for the fourth year in a row I guess you\'ll be telling me why Haslett and Company will get it right NEXT YEAR.

Believing in Brooks and Haslett to get us deeply into the playoffs is a lot like being a compulsive gambler at a slot machine, \"Just 1 more roll of quarters and I hit the gazillion dollar jackpot.\" It doesn\'t matter that they\'ve spent $1500 in quarters already and haven\'t slept for 3 days, they are absolutely convinced that this is the year. \"Just one more guy from Georgia and we\'ll be in the superbowl.\"

The Redskins are looking for two more qualified fans...they need your gate money when you watch \'em work out in the coming pre-season. :P

GO ahead and tell me about injuries.

Ok, Whodat (and anyone else for that matter), injuries can kill a football team. They can kill a baseball team, or a basketball team, or a hockey team, or a soccer team, or a beach volleyball team...

...I haven\'t been as down on the coaches as a lot of you. I have said time and again that the buck stops with the head coach, and I maintain that, but you\'ve been after Haz from day one. You have NEVER liked the guy and you never will. It\'s obvious because no matter what this team does you and a handful of others mock it. He does need a good showing this year...but his ability to coach has nothing to do with Delhomme being gone or Turley being gone or any of the other players some of you guys are in love with. Considering all the crap the Saints had to deal with last year maybe Haz did a decent job holding on to playoff hopes as long as he did. Sure, he\'s done some things I disagree with, but so has Bill Parcells. I doubt very seriously Mr. Parcells (considered the best coach in the game by most) manages his team and the games to your exacting standards. Hopefully, Joe Gibbs will, and you\'ll be happy as a Redskins fan.

I agree... you have to realize when haslett is on the sideline and Brooks behind center... we will cheer for them. What happens when they are 10-6 and or in a NFC champtionship games... who eats crow? Some of the talk here I swear are not fans of the team at all... the debate over haslett and brooks is over they are staying... so sense we have to deal with them who can and what can we do to make them better...